In other words, even if they found out, it would be useless. The problem lay with the cost.
For instance, a 20-year-old wild ginseng root could cost at least a thousand yuan per piece on the market.
If they were to acquire wild ginseng roots at this price, the cost would be absolutely staggering.
However, this was not a problem for Ling Tian. Currently, in the Immortal Herb Garden within his spiritual realm space, time flowed at a rate approximately 20 times slower than in the outside world.
This meant that any ginseng Ling Tian planted in the Immortal Herb Garden would mature to a 20-year equivalent in just one year of external time.
Moreover, the Immortal Herb Garden was rich in spiritual energy. Even if the plants grew for the same duration as those outside, their quality and medicinal efficacy would be vastly different.
Currently, some of the main raw ingredients for Bing Tian Pharmaceutical’s products were directly supplied by Ling Tian.
Apart from Wang Bingxia and her father, and a procurement department head absolutely loyal to the Wang family, no one else was aware of this fact.
In reality, it wasn't just Japanese commercial spies; spies sent by other domestic enterprises and those from other countries had already infiltrated Bing Tian Pharmaceutical’s production lines to the point where they were like sieves.
However, the information they obtained was utterly useless to them. As for replicating Bing Tian Pharmaceutical’s products, that was simply preposterous!
Kawashima Koichi, the president of the Kawashima Consortium, was anxiously waiting. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. A woman in a kimono quickly opened it, and a balding man in his forties entered, kneeling respectfully on the tatami.
“President, I have returned!”
The man’s name was Kato Hidemitsu. He was the general manager of Kawashima Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the Kawashima Consortium, and a trusted subordinate of Kawashima Koichi.
“Kato-kun, have there been any developments?”
“President, last month we bribed a technician at Bing Tian Pharmaceutical’s headquarters factory and obtained the complete production process for Bing Tian Zhengqi Tang from him…
However, we still haven’t acquired the relevant information regarding some key medicinal ingredients and their proportions!”
“Yoshi, you have done very well!”
“President, there is some bad news. That technician has been discovered and handed over to the Chinese authorities…
Although we can continue to bribe people to act as our informants, I believe it will be very difficult to obtain more valuable intelligence from them!” Kato Hidemitsu said, lowering his head humbly like a child admitting fault.
“Heh heh, Kato-kun, there’s no need to worry. As long as you figure out the production process, your mission is accomplished. As for the formula, heh heh, I have other arrangements…”
Before he could finish speaking, there was another knock on the door. A man in his thirties, who bore some resemblance to Kawashima Koichi, entered.
“Father, I have returned!”
This man, kneeling on the tatami with a stern expression, was Kawashima Masao, Kawashima Koichi’s eldest son. He had been kept close by his side, groomed to be the future successor of the Kawashima Consortium.
“Masao, tell me, what have you gained?”
“Father, I have just returned from the capital of China. This time, I offered two hundred million yuan and promised to help Bu Yaolian and his family relocate to Japan. Only then did he agree to provide us with the complete medicinal formula for Bing Tian Zhengqi Tang!
I rushed here immediately after obtaining the formula.”
“Yoshi, Masao, you have done excellently!
Quick, let me see the formula and compare it with the production process Kato-kun obtained to see which medicinal ingredients are missing!”
These three men were all experts in pharmacology. Despite the declining trust in Traditional Chinese Medicine and its remedies in China over the years, the Japanese placed great importance on them.
Many traditional Chinese medicinal formulas that had been lost in China were preserved in Japan and were even made into highly effective patent medicines.
However, due to Japan’s limited land and large population, they imported a vast quantity of medicinal materials from China annually.
Furthermore, Japanese pharmaceutical companies invested substantial funds each year into researching formulas from historical Chinese medical texts and extracting active ingredients from those medicinal materials.
Kawashima Masao took out a USB drive and plugged it into a dedicated computer. He then ran a program. After a rapid calculation, three types of medicinal ingredients finally appeared on the screen.
“Yoshi, how could these Chinese people have imagined that we would obtain their formula using this method?”
The three men exchanged glances and then burst into laughter.
“Let’s see what these ingredients are…” Kawashima Masao said as he began operating the computer. However, as he looked at the three ingredients on the screen, he froze completely.
“Lingyang Grass, Ghost Blood Vine, and 20-year-old Tianshan Snow Lotus!”
“Baka! What the hell is this!”
Upon seeing these three ingredients, the three Japanese men were utterly petrified.
Setting aside the fact that Lingyang Grass and Ghost Blood Vine were herbs they had never heard of, they couldn’t obtain a 20-year-old Tianshan Snow Lotus at all.
The technology for cultivating snow lotus artificially had only been developed for a little over a decade. Moreover, for economic value, the cultivated snow lotuses were harvested after only two to three years.
Even if they were continuously cultivated, artificially grown snow lotuses rarely exceeded a lifespan of 10 years.
To find Tianshan Snow Lotus older than 20 years, one could only resort to digging for wild ones. However, in recent years, wild Tianshan Snow Lotus had been so destructively excavated in China that very few remained.
It was important to note that Tianshan Snow Lotus was now a Class II protected plant in China. A single wild Tianshan Snow Lotus on the market commanded an exorbitant price. Even for private use, the supply was insufficient, let alone for pharmaceutical companies requiring large quantities for mass production.
As for Lingyang Grass, this herb was the most crucial ingredient in Bing Tian Zhengqi Tang, and its importance was irreplaceable. Without it, Bing Tian Zhengqi Tang would likely lose more than two-thirds of its efficacy.
This type of herb was extremely rare, primarily because it had very demanding growth requirements. The places where this herb grew needed ample sunlight, abundant rainfall, humid air, and a high concentration of spiritual energy.
Finding such locations was incredibly difficult. The first two conditions were inherently contradictory; places with abundant sunlight and rainfall typically experienced vigorous plant growth, and these rapidly growing plants would block the sunlight.
Such environments were as rare as phoenix feathers in nature. However, there was one place that could meet the growth requirements for this herb: the Immortal Herb Garden within Ling Tian’s spiritual realm space.
With the existence of the Immortal Herb Garden, Lingyang Grass thrived there, allowing Ling Tian to procure sufficient Lingyang Grass for pharmaceutical production.